Craig Finn – Always Been
As I’ve mentioned in this space before, I have a blindspot for turn-of-the-century-ish indie bands. While I was listening to (almost exclusively) Lucinda Williams and Ryan Adams, bands like Wilco and The National passed me by – I’ve since become enamored of The National, while Jeff Tweedy’s (undeniably successful) post-Uncle Tupelo project continues to elude me. The Hold Steady was another one of those non-clickers for me. The Brooklyn band, fronted by Minnesotan Craig Finn, has been making highly acclaimed records for over two decades, as well as spawning several side quests – Finn is also a podcaster, and former keyboardist Franz Nicolay authored a fantastic (fictionalized) book about a struggling touring musician, Someone Should Pay for Your Pain. But it’s Finn’s sixth solo record, Always Been, that has really grabbed my attention. Produced by Adam Granduicel and featuring several of his The War on Drugs bandmates, the record is a hooky, loosely wound narrative centered around Nathan, a reverend in name only, and the decaying world that surrounds him.
Finn opens Always Been with “Bethany,” which introduces Nathan post-preacherhood. Guided along by Granduciel’s guitar and piano and keys from Robbie Bennett and Anthony LaMarca, Finn begins to fill in the backstory of a man who now whiles away his days on a pilfered buzz – “Drinking off what’s left of the glasses on the table/When the couples get their checks and walk away.” We also begin to see that Nathan’s a man who, while engaging in the occasional dust-up – “The devil came in hot/Someone called the cops” – he’s just a guy who doesn’t do much wrong (or right); rather, he allows himself to get carried away by circumstances. The album’s first single, “People of Substance,” featuring background vocals from Kathleen Edwards, shows Nathan making half-hearted attempts at sobriety – “Dana, I don’t drink nearly as much/One or two nights of the week at most” – while trying to convince his now-remarried ex that he’s not the mess he once was. Truthfully, though, he’s failing at convincing even himself.
Dropping in mid-album, “A Man Needs a Vocation” fills out the details in Nathan’s haphazard journey toward the clergy. Kicked off with Granduciel’s keys (if you’re a TWoD fan, this album will help fill a gap that’s been widening since that band’s last record in 2021), we’re able follow the protagonist from returning soldier (“As he hobbled down the frontage road/With a footlocker and in a fair amount of pain”) to becoming, pretty much accidentally, a man of the cloth: “The course takes twenty weeks/With a military discount/The divinity comes cheaply and discreetly.” Note – like many of the tales sketched out across Always Been, Finn expands on “A Man Needs a Vocation” (told from an alternate perspective) in a companion book, Lousy with Ghosts – it’s available as an add-on when ordering the album and, if you’re as intrigued by Nathan’s story (and Finn’s portrayal of him), it’s worth the extra investment.
But if it’s simply musical storytelling you’re after, you can’t do much better than “Luke and Leanna.” While Granduciel leans into his deepest 80s instincts, Finn sings of what seems like a mere bad day – “She came home crying/Her asked her what happened/She says it’s just nothing/It’s something at work” – until Finn lays out the full story: love, betrayal and, again, the decay of something that might’ve once been beautiful. Immediately after finishing Always Been, I was ready to dive back into some old-school The Hold Steady with fresh (if a bit older) ears. That’s the thing about good songs – sometimes they don’t hit you quite right until life has made you ready to hear ‘em.
Song I Can’t Wait to Hear Live: “Postcards” – Finn’s melancholy ode to trips never taken – “The places we won’t go will still be there without us” – features a Granduciel solo and a patented TWoD coda. Zen Diagram Tour, 2025 edition? We can dream.
Always Been was produced by Adam Granduciel, engineered by Austin Asvanonda, mixed by Jon Low and mastered by Greg Calbi. Musicians on the album include Craig Finn (vocals, acoustic guitar), Adam Granduciel (electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards, organ, Mellotron, percussion, drums, sampler, piano, synthesizer, backing vocals), Dave Hartley (bass guitar acoustic guitar, backing vocals), Robbie Bennett (piano), Anthony LaMarca (drums, electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards), Sterling Laws (drums), Kathleen Edwards (backing vocals), Jon Natchez (bass guitar), Alex Fischel (piano, organ), Jesse Quebbean-Turley (drums, percussion), Patrick Berkery (drums, percussion) and Sam Fender (backing vocals).
Go here to order Always Been and Lousy with Ghosts (out April 4): https://merchnow.com/collections/craig-finn
Check out tour dates here: https://craigfinn.net/tour